Auction 78 - Rare and Important Items
Prayer "So That He and His Household be Saved from Danger" – Jerusalem, WWII – With a Gloss Handwritten by Rabbi Yehuda Fatiyah
Opening: $1,000
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000
Unsold
Printed leaf containing a special prayer "so that he and his family be rescued from danger", with a gloss handwritten by the kabbalist R. Yehuda Fatiyah. Jerusalem: HaOt Press, [WWII].
The leaf contains various verses which one should recite in time of danger. The heading at the top of the leaf mentions the concern of an air raid (Eretz Israel was attacked several times by the air force of fascist Italy): " And if G-d forbid, this should never happen, there is an air raid, one should say this again and again continuously, and no harm will befall them". This leaf was presumably printed and distributed at that time at the initiative of R. Yehuda Fatiyah.
This leaf, which was part of the library of R. Yehuda Fatiyah, bears his handwritten gloss (penciled; at the foot of the leaf). In his gloss, R. Yehuda Fatiyah explains one of the verses printed on this leaf: "But to all the children of Israel, not one dog will whet its tongue against either man or beast…", demonstrating how it contains allusions to the enemies of the Jewish people: Edom (presumably in reference to Rome, Italy, whose planes bombed Eretz Israel) and Yishmael (the Arabs). He states that the numerical value of Kelev (dog) is equal to that of Edom, while the word "LeMeIsh" (against either man) shares the same letters as Yishmael, without the letter Ayin, since "the eyes of the wicked shall fail".
R. Yehuda Fatiyah (1859-Av 1942), prominent kabbalist and Iraqi Torah scholar, disciple of the Ben Ish Chai in Baghdad. After immigrating to Jerusalem in 1934, he studied in the yeshiva for kabbalists under HaRav HaSadeh, alongside his colleague R. Yaakov Chaim Sofer, author of Kaf HaChaim. A posek and kabbalist, he delt extensively in kabbalistic tikkunim and amulets, and over the years was involved in exorcising dybbukim and evil spirits, as he relates in his book HaRuchot Mesaprot. During WWII, he composed kabbalistic prayers and tikkunim, arranged prayer ceremonies of prominent kabbalists for the rescue of Eretz Israel Jewry from the hands of the Nazis. He authored Beit Lechem Yehuda, Matok LaNefesh and other books. R. Yehuda Fatiyah passed away shortly after the printing of this leaf, during WWII.
[1] leaf. 23 cm. Good condition. Many stains. The leaf was mounted on card and bound in a special binding (with gilt decorations; card partially detached from binding).
Expert report enclosed (pasted inside binding).
The leaf contains various verses which one should recite in time of danger. The heading at the top of the leaf mentions the concern of an air raid (Eretz Israel was attacked several times by the air force of fascist Italy): " And if G-d forbid, this should never happen, there is an air raid, one should say this again and again continuously, and no harm will befall them". This leaf was presumably printed and distributed at that time at the initiative of R. Yehuda Fatiyah.
This leaf, which was part of the library of R. Yehuda Fatiyah, bears his handwritten gloss (penciled; at the foot of the leaf). In his gloss, R. Yehuda Fatiyah explains one of the verses printed on this leaf: "But to all the children of Israel, not one dog will whet its tongue against either man or beast…", demonstrating how it contains allusions to the enemies of the Jewish people: Edom (presumably in reference to Rome, Italy, whose planes bombed Eretz Israel) and Yishmael (the Arabs). He states that the numerical value of Kelev (dog) is equal to that of Edom, while the word "LeMeIsh" (against either man) shares the same letters as Yishmael, without the letter Ayin, since "the eyes of the wicked shall fail".
R. Yehuda Fatiyah (1859-Av 1942), prominent kabbalist and Iraqi Torah scholar, disciple of the Ben Ish Chai in Baghdad. After immigrating to Jerusalem in 1934, he studied in the yeshiva for kabbalists under HaRav HaSadeh, alongside his colleague R. Yaakov Chaim Sofer, author of Kaf HaChaim. A posek and kabbalist, he delt extensively in kabbalistic tikkunim and amulets, and over the years was involved in exorcising dybbukim and evil spirits, as he relates in his book HaRuchot Mesaprot. During WWII, he composed kabbalistic prayers and tikkunim, arranged prayer ceremonies of prominent kabbalists for the rescue of Eretz Israel Jewry from the hands of the Nazis. He authored Beit Lechem Yehuda, Matok LaNefesh and other books. R. Yehuda Fatiyah passed away shortly after the printing of this leaf, during WWII.
[1] leaf. 23 cm. Good condition. Many stains. The leaf was mounted on card and bound in a special binding (with gilt decorations; card partially detached from binding).
Expert report enclosed (pasted inside binding).
Oriental Torah Scholars
Oriental Torah Scholars